White House African American History Month Reception CSPAN February 21, 2019 6:43pm-7:05pm EST

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arlington, virginia, the county, was essentially ordered by the state to give amazon $51 million million in local subsidies as well. >> and mrs. trump. [cheering and chanting] >> well. -- wow. thank you very much. what a great group this is. this is the future. the first lady and i are thrilled.

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so many pastors and leaders interstate being filled up i winners like you. i want to thank you very much. white house to celebrate african-american history month. [laughter] >> you like the white house, right? grateful to be joined by mike and karen pence. mike, come on over here. get appear. come on, karen. what a job they do. today, we are here to honor the extraordinary contributions from african-americans from the earliest days of this nation, african-americans have uplifted

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and inspired our country in art, science, literature, law, film, politics, business and every arena. these contributions are beyond measure. you know it and everybody knows it. we pay tribute to the african-american heroes who have sacrificed in the name of and dignity in america. every citizen alive today are forever in debt of the brave souls who have championed the internal cause of civil rights. we are joined for tonight ceremony by many distinguished

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--st, including the surgical surgeon general jerome adams. hi, then a little while. >> thank you very much. -- been a little while. >> thank you very much. >> our economy stronger than it's ever been before. by the way, as you have been hearing me say, african-american unemployment is at an all-time low, a historic low. the history of our country has never been better. the youngall to african-american activists who are here today. you are the leaders of this

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country. since the beginning of our republic, african-americans have given their heart, their love and their very lives to the of liberty and justice for all. during the revolutionary war, african-american soldiers fought and helped our nation gain independence. in the next century, frederick douglass and harriet delman risked -- harriet dublin -- harry tubman risked everything to end slavery and here we are altogether in the white house. this is a great thing, right? this is a very special place. parks andlater, rosa

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dr. martin luther king jr. challenged our nation to fulfill its founding promise that we are all created equal by god. moment of our history, african-americans have called our great nation to greatness. marks the 100 anniversary of the birth of jackie robinson. he was special. because ite special was not an easy journey for jackie. he was a special man. his courage on and off the field stands as a triumph to the human spirit. african-american scientists, artists, musicians, faith leaders and countless others have lifted our nation to

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incredible heights. today, we thank god for all of the lessons the african-american community continues to give our nation and we pledge hours off to expand opportunity for americans. since my election, we have jobs.d 5.3 million new proud of it being the lowest in history for african-americans, but today right now, we have the most people working in the history of our nation, almost 160 million people. tell me, how do they be a set the -- beat us at the debate

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stand when we say we have the ,est unemployment numbers ever the best economy perhaps we've ever had. we have a lot of good things. and, we cut your taxes. under my administration, the african-american poverty rate has fallen to its lowest level and if you think about that, it is a special category. the poverty rate for african-americans is the best it's ever been. nearly one million additional african-americans have found new jobs and i think we can attribute it to regulatory cuts or a result of our tax cuts, the largest tax cut in the history of our country.

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mike pence was just in south carolina and talking about those incredible achievements that have been made with jim scott and everybody. we are bringing in new investments and jobs to places we needed them the most. through our pledge to america , we commit to invite -- provide 6.1 million new jobs and that is a total record. that is an easy one by a lot. just last month, we passed a groundbreaking criminal justice reform. world -- will you come appeared

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aerial scott? -- darrell scott? he is always defending me on television. you want somebody to defend you, this is about as good as he can get. sometimes they say you are a pastor. thank you. reform thattion nobody thought we could get done. we worked with conservatives, liberals and those in the middle. they have been trying to get , but wee for 25 years got it done, criminal justice reform. walls harm african-american communities far greater than anybody else and it gives former inmates a second chance. we are happy to be joined here

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that is the first person to be released under the catherine tony act. i just want to thank the president and everybody that works hard on this prison reform . if it was not for them, i would not be standing before you walk today. i have been incarcerated for 16 .ears them and amkful to

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for the to god opportunity to be standing before you. >> that is so nice. as far as criminal justice reform, jared, thank you. what a great job. , but itnot want praise was so nice to have you come up. incredible. does so much. during the state of the union toress, i called on congress pass school choice. no child should detract at a

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failing school that stands in the way of their dreams. every citizen deserves a government that puts their needs first. like your hat. i like that hat. here with us today is an incredible leader. most of you know them -- know him well. it is bob woodson. he has an incredible story. he joined the air force in the 1950's. you are in good shape. talk to him later and find out what is going on later. hele in the deep south, confronted discrimination firsthand and was jailed for leading a very peaceful protests.

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as bob puts it, even when defeat was all around us, it was not an us. -- in us. years, heast 50 helped to restore jobs and hope within the heart of very distressed communities. i want to thank you very much. you are a very special man and , weng you in new jersey appreciate you being here. thank you. [laughter] [applause] >> i want to thank god and thank president trump turning the tables over and attacking the status quo. i also want to bless you for

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your administration and the policies and to giving low income people an opportunity to help themselves. that is all they want. they won an opportunity to achieve in your administration is working to make that happen. >> thank you. great guy. we are also proud to be joined by clarence henderson, who was among the first students to begin the greensboro sit in. on the second day in 1960, he was one of four citizens -- for four students. he sparked a movement all across america. .t was an incredible moment

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days ofre than 170 the lunch rooms became integrated. as he said, it does not take many people to make a change, it just takes courage and clarence, you have incredible courage and i want to thank you very much. [applause] >> i'm delighted to be here with the president. it is a pleasure to be here this .vening and share this i continue right now and we are

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still moving forward to change america and make america great again. thank you. >> as we commemorate african-american history month, we remember the words of dr. king. in 1964, he said when years old here andldren will be we have a better place because the children of god were reeling -- were willing to suffer. nobody said it better than dr. martin luther king and fewer people had words more beautiful than dr. king. he made us all look not quite as good. great man. the heroicemember

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legacy of african americans who ushered in a bright new dawn of freedom. that is exactly what you are doing and you are at the forefront. as americans, we all share the same dreams, the same hopes, and the same magnificent destiny. we are now and will forever be one people, one family, and one

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glorious nation under god. i want to thank you all. i want to god bless you. i want to say god bless you all. and god bless america. thank you for being at the white house. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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